WE ARE BACK! EYE MISSION SUCCESSFUL , TREK AMAZING

We flew into South Horr, just south of Lake Turkana by midday and met up with Dee Belliere, founder of MEAK, and Helen Douglas Dufresne, our walking guide, founder of MILGIS  TRUST and MEAK’s partner on the ground for this mission.

The eye mission was well on its way and despite some very serious hurdles it was turning out to be quite successful. The location had been moved from the original plan. Due to tribal conflicts in the area the mission had to be moved from Waso Rongai to the Horr valley. The Samburu sports center in the town of South Horr had been made available and the community could not have been more welcoming.

The final count was gratifying: 214 eyes operations were done and 4 patients were referred and flown to Nairobi. The medical team (one surgeon, three nurses and one anesthetist) was smaller than usual – one less doctor – and did an amazing job.

However there was clearly a sense of frustration. This mission had been planned for months and one of the goals had been to treat the Samburu and the Turkana people, neighboring tribes. Traditionally these tribes are often warring each other over their livestock. A lot of effort had been put into promoting peace and it seemed like it was working. Many eye cases had been identified among the Turkana people. Sadly shortly before the beginning of the mission the Turkanas had raided the Samburus and stolen 400 head of cattle. As a result no Turkana would risk coming into Samburu land to have their eyes fixed despite the fact that many needed operations. But such is life in the distant lands of Northern Kenya and the MEAK team that worked in partnership with the Milgis Trust team did an amazing job despite the circumstances.  When I am in Africa I always remember a Clint Eastwood line: “Adapt and Improvise.”

There is still much more that needs to be done!
We arrived in time to see some cataract operations being done, and even more gratifying we witnessed the reaction of many of the patients when the eye patches were removed seeing for the first time in years.  The quiet chatter, gentle laughter, and beaming smiles were a sight to behold!

Cataract operations were the majority but a few patients with Trachoma were treated and other eye ailments were also attended to. Trachoma is prevalent in this area and a major cause of blindness. As a result of recurrent infections the eyelids turn into themselves and the eyelashes constantly rub against the eyeball creating constant excruciating pain.  To address this situation, a team has been scouring the region screening for eye ailments and teaching better hygiene.

We took a day and a half to get our bearings. The night before we took off, the Samburu men, many of them dressed in their warrior gear, treated us to an amazing dance and song performance.  It was a gesture of thank you and a very special gift. These dances and songs have existed for centuries and are profoundly moving. We felt very honored.

Most of the Samburu men would be coming along with us on the trek, leading the camels and setting up camps.

We started our trek south towards the Milgis Lugga through the Ndoto mountains. We trekked through a landscape that was breathtaking. We started at the Horr Valley walking across the south end of Ol Donyo Mara into the Seren valley.

We traveled through open plains, and valleys with the bush in full bloom. See the lovely Cadia (Purpurea) flower!

We climbed rocky hills, traversed the Ndikir Laurie mountain pass, reaching heights that allowed us magnificent views of the Ndotos peaks and valleys. We camped near dry river beds or luggas – one, the Lomolok Lugga, turned into a flowing and bubbling stream in 10 minutes – or on mountain tops in Urra that made you want to cry or laugh or just simply sit quietly in awe at the beauty of our planet.

Once the need to talk waned our senses awakened to the bush life surrounding us.  As I walked I would stop to pick the leaves and seeds of the sage bush delighting in its perfume, or loose all sense of time as I followed the movements of the rosy patch bush shrike whose song had caught our attention, or yet again admire the candelabra like sculptural form of the many euphorbia trees in full bloom.

I stood mesmerized by the vibrant yellow blooms along its cactus like limbs creating a halo around the tree.

We encountered young children who are given responsibility at an early age herding the family goats. We were an oddity in this part of Northern Kenya and a great source of amusement and curiosity to these youngsters. We passed by Samburu manyattas or huts clustered together and protected from predators by an enclosure made of twigs and branches.

We did run into the occasional warrior, armed to the teeth and yet very stylish. I was very lucky to get a picture of one of them.

The level of excitement in the group peeked when we ran across very fresh elephant dung! Our chances of running into a big bush animal were seriously improving. Birds, dik diks, herds of goats were great but we wanted the big stuff!  Total silence was requested which I welcomed with great relief and perseverance paid off. Twice we spotted those majestic creatures on the hills feasting on the trees. Some of us who had amazing eyesight could just see them with the naked eye. I, on the other hand, needed my binoculars!

Every morning we woke up at 5:30am to the song of the Samburu man coming to fill our washbasin with hot water. After a cup of tea or coffee, we departed under the rising sun for our day’s journey. Four camels carrying our breakfast, which the Samburu men would set up mid-morning when we needed those extra calories to help us along, accompanied us. Pete and Helen, our guides, made sure we had a full breakfast!  Fruit, eggs , yellow like you have never seen, homemade muesli  we figured that if we marketed it ,we would make a killing it was so good.

Some of us at the end of the day wanted a final challenge before turning in and climbed some pretty steep hills and encountered baboons along the way.

Intermittent rain was mostly refreshing though at times it was unexpected and created quite a stir.  One night we went to sleep under starry skies and rain startled us awake in the middle of the night.  Jumping out of our bedrolls, we rushed out of our tents to undo the flaps of our rain cover with the help of the Samburu team. But by the time we got back into our tents, bedrolls and clothes were wet except for some clever ones who had had the prescience to keep their bags packed and had thought of covering their mattress. I was not one of them!  We did not let that happen again!

Under Helen Douglas Dufresne’s instruction we learned to identify Orion’s Belt at night and Venus and Mercury at sunrise. We fell in love with the dogs that accompanied us. More then once I found myself woken up from my mid-afternoon nap on a mattress laid down on the grass by an over eager dog’s paws on my chest.

The real stars of this walk were our Samburu porters who worked tirelessly to make us comfortable and who on an impulse would break into a song and a dance for their own enjoyment and to our utter delight.

Some of us, unfortunately, fell sick but were amazingly brave. We had to adjust the pace of our walk and did not get to see the Latakwen clinic that is my special project. We all made it to our destination though, which was Helen’s base camp, Lkanto, set at the top of a hill situated at the confluence of the Milgis and Sarya Luggas.

We took in for the last time the awe inspiring, view savoring our accomplishment yet a bit sad because of the upcoming good byes. I confess that there is no place I would rather be then on top of that hill with its 360 degree view of the two large riverbeds with to the south, the mountains of the Matthews and Mt Kenya in the far distance, and to the north the Ndotos hills.

After a quick shower we departed for the airstrip where a final treat was awaiting us. The children from the local school dressed in their Samburu outfits performed a dance celebrating a world where man and nature coexist in harmony.

Still under their spell we climbed into our charter plane after effusive thanks to Helen and Pete Insley who had led us very competently and brought us back safe.

Thank you for an amazing journey.

I stepped out of a plane coming from South Africa to a week of African contemporary dance and theater in New York.  Nora Chipaumire (Zimbabwe) was performing her dance piece Miriam at BAM, Faustin Linyekula (Congo) danced Le Cargo at the FIAC and five female choreographers, Ketty Noel (Haiti/Mali), Nelisiwe Xaba (South Africa), Nadia Beugré (Côte d’Ivoire), Maria Helena Pinto (Mozambique) and Bouchra Ouizguen (Morocco) created four powerful works for “Voices of Strength: Contemporary Dance & Theater by Women from Africa” at New York Live Arts.  Women were coming out in strength and while their voices were regionally defined, their message was universal. They challenged female myths and stereotypes, preconceived notions of women’s role and body and in particular women’s lack of agency that is still an implicit requisite in most parts of the world, and certainly in Africa.

I liked particularly Bouchra Ouizguen’s Madame Plaza, (named after a night club) which challenged my preconceived notions of what a dancer should look like and behave in a dance performance. The work opened up with three generously shaped mature women and one younger – the choreographer – lounging on three large rectangular cushions arranged like a sectional sofa, which defined a domestic space. The women shifted occasionally from one pose to another, very slowly.  At once, I found myself to be a bit disoriented and intrigued, but smiling. As I am an art historian, I revisited in my mind images of harems or odalisques by Delacroix and Matisse with their highly seductive women. This flashback did not last too long though; the authoritative physicality and authenticity of the performers’ presence negated the Orientalist myth and brought me back to reality. The three women were in fact Aita traditional vocalists, whose wailing cries at first punctured the silence and later expanded to full incantations. The authenticity of their stance, movements, self-acceptance, and confidence helped convey a sense of community and intimacy that was very compelling.  While the tone at first was somber, moments of sensuality and humor were welcomed release. The space between the dancers gradually shrank and unhindered by their ample bodies, the four women’s shapes fused on the floor as they rolled in unison. Their bodies, now pliable, melted into each other becoming a soft wave unfolding onto the floor.  Further along in the piece one of the vocalists, Ms. Hmad,  slipped into a white suit and with a twinkle in her eyes proceeded to playfully seduce Ms. Elhanna.   Madame Plaza had successfully subverted my idea of femininity in dance. It was a welcome new awareness and with that I gained new freedom.

The other work that evening, Sombra by Maria Helena Pinto, was a dramatic metaphor of a life with no self, no direction, and no agency. Maria Helena Pinto had her head covered with a black bucket and she danced throughout the piece, faceless with no identity, and blind. At first, she walked slowly and carefully on buckets placed face down and arranged in a line.  Later, she moved amidst other buckets hanging from the ceiling from strings, grabbing them and bringing chaos to a space that at first was defined by a minimal and stark order. At other times, she struggled to move forward, her body partially stuffed into a bucket; her body had become unrecognizable and  a tangle of limbs. It did drag on a bit too much; what more can one do with a bucket over ones head! The work did end on a hopeful note though: she removed the bucket , finally revealing her face to my great relief. I was obsessed with finding out what she looked like! Texts read in Portuguese and French by Lucrecia Paco in a voice over echoed her struggles.

“My foot lands,

I move forward!

I have centimeters, kilometers left to travel.

My foot lands, I move forward!

These kilometric centimeters that separates me from the shadow.

One foot before another, one step after another.……..

Where is my face?……

I don’t recognize the face that looks like mine.

My own, I never saw.

…”

These words struck a chord with me. I had just come back from Durban, South Africa, where I had talked to an artist/architect whose work was based on the idea of walking. I was struck by the coincidence. Walking for miles is a common occurrence for many Africans. It is a daily reality even in cities where public transportation has not kept up with the population’s growth.

Walking was an element in Nora Chipaumire’s dance theater performance Miriam. The act of walking took on a ritualistic dimension as the regal Okwui Okpokwasili paced around the perimeter of the stage in her high-heeled boots and appendages.  Miriam, directed by Eric Ting and set to the music of Cuban composer Omar Rosa was a highly charged, dramatic duet between Nora Chipaumire and Okwui Okpokwasili, two formidable dancers and performers. Nora’s Miriam drew from the iconic singer and political activist Miriam Makeba and offered an alternative to the other iconic Miriams: Mary, mother of Jesus, and Miriam the sister of Moses. As Nora Chipaumire says: “My Miriam is disobedient, obstinate, rebellious, and beloved.” In the midst of a dimly lit stage, where a ladder lighting structure, yellow caution tape and dangling bare light bulbs defined the stark setting Nora Chipaumire/ Miriam emerged from a pile of stones and plastic rubble. A leg shot out and one heard cries and sounds made from shifting plastic. It was not clear what was going on at first. Were we witnessing a birth or a sexual act? I liked that I did not quite know. The problem was that this feeling stayed with me for most of the play. I left feeling at a loss about what I had just partially witnessed.  From where I was seated I had only a partial view. Though the performance was set on a four-sided stage, it in fact favored one side. I was on the wrong side.

New work by Okwui Okpokwasili and Nora Chipaumire.

Friday night at St Marks Church in New York city, Danspace, in the context of Platform 2012 curated by Ishmael Houston- Jones, presented the powerful performances of two highly accomplished performers and Bessie award-winners: Okwui Okpokwasili, a second generation African American from the Bronx – her parents come from Nigeria – and the Zimbabwean Nora Chipaumire who lives now in the US.  Both have a long list of outstanding credentials but it was their performance that totally impressed me.  They each created and performed their own piece.

In Bronx Gothic, blending song, movement, and narration Okwui explored with a mix of provocation and humor the state of mind of a younger self, a teenage black girl discovering what sex is about.  Her long and lithe body set against a white draped backdrop shook and trembled continuously.  An internal earthquake seemed to be dictating her movements, and I found myself mesmerized by her amazingly long fingers and limbs jutting out erratically.

In The Last Heifer – heifer meaning young female cow, slut or fat cow etc – Nora Chipaumire presented herself to the contrary as eminently sculptural and powerful. She moved to the sound of traditional African music in slow motion through a sequence of  movements that repeated itself. Dressed in a Jean Paul Gautier like outfit, which exposed her breasts, she appeared in total control of every inch of her body asking us to take in each and every move. The tension was unbelievable.

As it was made clear after the show during a talk moderated by Wangechi Mutu, a renowned visual artist from Kenya,  Okwui Okpokwasili and Nora Chipaumire were both in each their unique way defying the strict rules of propriety dictated in their childhood home: one through the use of crude and explicit language and the other through the exposure of her breasts. However, it is their different experience with their African heritage that mostly informed their work and explained their different approach to the body in these two pieces. Okwui is perceived as African in New York and as American in Nigeria and she is keen to explore in her work the instability of that “in between” place.  By the way I can relate to that feeling since I am always a foreigner wherever I am. On the contrary, Nora is firmly grounded in her African identity having been raised and schooled in Zimbabwe. She is focused on issues of power and the political. She got that point across in a visceral way and I found myself rather hypnotized by her.   I always envy the confidence of the one who has such clear sense of identity and yet there is  a richness of potential in that indeterminate space which Okwui so poetically conveyed.

They are working together on a project commissioned by BAM for the fall and it promises to be fascinating. I am going for sure!